Method and apparatus of a fully-pipelined layered LDPC decoder

ABSTRACT

Processors are arranged in a pipeline structure to operate on multiple layers of data, each layer comprising multiple groups of data. An input to a memory is coupled to an output of the last processor in the pipeline, and the memory&#39;s output is coupled to an input of the first processor in the pipeline. Multiplexing and de-multiplexing operations are performed in the pipeline. For each group in each layer, a stored result read from the memory is applied to the first processor in the pipeline structure. A calculated result of the stored result is output at the last processor and stored in the memory. Once processing for the last group of data in a first layer is completed, the corresponding processor is configured to process data in a next layer before the pipeline finishes processing the first layer. The stored result obtained from the next layer comprises a calculated result produced from a layer previous to the first layer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/165,505,filed Jan. 27, 2014, entitled, “Method and Apparatus of aFully-Pipelined Layered LDPC Decoder,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allotted a spectrum ofbandwidth in the 60 GHz frequency range (57 to 64 GHz). The WirelessGigabit Alliance (WiGig) is targeting the standardization of thisfrequency band that will support data transmission rates up to 7 Gbps.Integrated circuits, formed in semiconductor die, offer high frequencyoperation in this millimeter wavelength range of frequencies. Some ofthese integrated circuits utilize Complementary Metal OxideSemiconductor (CMOS), Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) or GaAs (GalliumArsenide) technology to form the dice in these designs. The receive pathof the signal being transferred in the wireless channel in thesecommunication system need to be compensated for various very dispersiveconditions occurring in the wireless channel. Some of these conditionsinclude multipath reflection, multipath resilience, ISI (Inter SymbolInterference), channel capacity, strategies for frequency diversityscheduling, etc.

CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) is the primary technologyused to construct integrated circuits. N-channel devices and P-channeldevices (MOS device) are used in this technology which uses fine linetechnology to consistently reduce the channel length of the MOS devices.Current channel lengths are 40 nm, the power supply of VDD equals 1.2Vand the number of layers of metal levels can be 8 or more.

CMOS offers the computing power to perform many of the requiredcompensation techniques requires overcoming the adverse conditions ofthe wireless channel. Yet, the computing power must be used in a powerefficient manner to insure that the dissipated power is low enough toallow these important building blocks of the transceiver fabricated inCMOS to be used in mobile applications. This helps to insure that theenergy drawn from the limited power contained in the battery isminimized while achieving the optimum performance.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFMA) is a multi-carriersystem that has been used in various communication Standards such as802.11 (Wi-Fi), digital video broadcasting (DVB), asymmetrical digitalsubscriber lines (ASDL), etc. However, OFDM suffers from severaldeficiencies including peak to average power ratio (PAPR), sensitivityto amplifier nonlinearities, and effects of frequency offsets. Singlecarrier (SC) communication systems, however, overcome these severaldeficiencies and offer several benefits over OFDM systems.

SC communication systems is a single-carrier transmit signal thatpartitions their wideband channel into a large number of parallelnarrowband subcarriers and has a lower PAPR resulting in designparameters in the transmit path that are simpler to achieve whencompared to OFDM.

In the transmitter side as illustrated in FIG. 1, the input signals aremapped 1-2 into symbols, then the symbols are converted from a serialpath into parallel blocks with a series to parallel (S/P) converter 1-3so a cyclic prefix 1-4 can be added to each block. A parallel to serial(P/S) converter 1-5 recombines these blocks into a serial link which iszero padded and filtered 1-6. A digital to analog (D/A) converter 1-7converts the digital serial link to an analog signal and presented to ananalog transmitter 1-8. The signal is sent over the wireless channel 1-9which time disperses the signal and introduces noise 1-21 into thesignal. A receiver front end 1-10 receives the distorted wireless signaland converted to a digital signal with an analog to digital (A/D)converter 1-11. The signal is then filtered 1-12. The prefix is removed1-13 and a S/P converter 1-14 generates a time domain of parallel blocksignals that are converter by an fast Fourier transform (FFT) 1-15 in tothe frequency domain. A frequency domain equalizer 1-16 is applied toeach of the transmitted subcarriers where the channel distortion causedby the channel is compensated for each subcarrier by the frequencydomain equalizer. The FFT and frequency domain equalization requiresless computation power than an equivalent performing time-domainequalization. An inverse FFT (IFFT) 1-17 generates the time domainrepresentation of the frequency compensated transmitted signal to ade-mapper unit 1-18. The De-mapper feeds its output to a low densityparity check (LDPC) decoder 1-22. The LDPC, invented by Gallager “R. G.Gallager, Low Density Parity Check Codes, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press,1963., is a well-known linear error code correcting code that approachesthe Shannon limit and therefor called a capacity approaching code. Afterthe LDPC, the recovered messages are then applied to a descrambler 1-23to recover the symbols which are then applied to a P/S converter 1-19.The output signal is applied to the baseband circuitry of the receiverto extract the signals from the transmitter. The combination of thede-mapper, LDPC decoder and de-scrambler is contained within the dottedbox 1-24 and will be described in more detail shortly.

A parity-check decoder allows error correction allows messages which aretransmitted over a noisy transmission medium to be captured andrecovered at a receiver with a noise threshold that can approach theupper bound of the channel noise. These messages comprise codewords [C]that are generated with additional bits for redundancy. These additionalbits are called check bits and are placed in the codewords making eachcodeword distinct from another codeword. This error recovery decoder isrequired where the codewords as sent by the transmitter are altered intransit to the receiver. The medium which interconnects the transmitterto the receiver can be noisy and can alter the value of the bitscontained within the codewords. An example of a hostile medium is awireless connection between the transmitter and the receiver. Such awireless medium suffers from noise of the environment, othertransmitters in the local area competing for the limited availablespectrum, multiple path reflections from buildings and structures,signal loss, and etc.

A Hamming distance separates the codewords from one another and is thenumber of bit positions that are different. For instance, the codeword[0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1] differs from the codeword [0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0] by threepositions: 4^(th), 5^(th), and 8^(th). This large Hamming distance helpsto identify the proper codeword during error recovery of a decoder sincethe decoder would pick the closest one after the algorithm hascompleted.

A spare matrix H called a parity-check matrix determines the codewordsof the source message that satisfies the following equation:HC=0  (EQ. 1)over the Galois field GF(2).

$\begin{matrix}{H = {\begin{bmatrix}1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 1\end{bmatrix} = \left\lbrack {A\mspace{14mu} I_{n - k}} \right\rbrack}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)\end{matrix}$where n=length of codeword and k=bits in the message. I is the identitymatrix and AThe constraints for the parity-check matrix H are:c ₀ +c ₁ +c ₃=0;c ₂ +c ₃ +c ₅=0;c ₁ +c ₂ +c ₃ +c ₆=0;  (EQ. 3)

A good received codeword at the transmitter satisfies the followingequation:Hy ^(T)=0  (EQ. 4)where y^(T) is the received codeword at the receiver.

A generator is required to create these codewords at the transmitter.Gauss-Jordan elimination on H can be used to find the generator G byinverting [A I_(n-k)] to reach [I A⁻¹] or:

$\begin{matrix}{G = {\begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 \\0 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 1\end{bmatrix} = \left\lbrack {I\mspace{14mu} A^{- 1}} \right\rbrack}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 5} \right)\end{matrix}$

The source message S is combined with the parity check bits to generatea codeword C for that source message S at the source. The interconnectmedium contributes noise to the message such that the received message Ynow contains noise N, or Y=C+N. The spare matrix is known at both thesource and destination and the destination and is used to calculate thevector Z=HY=HC+HN at the receiver, and from EQ. 1, Z=HN. This lastrelationship is used by the decoding process to find the equation whichsolves HN=Z to determine the noise component n. This noise estimate issubtracted from the received signal y to recover the codeword C. Oncethe codeword, as sent by the transmitter is recovered at the receiver,the original source message S can be extracted and provided to thetransmitter.

Several methods of decoding a LDPC code are available some use the hardvalues while others use the soft values. The binary erasure channel andbit-flipping decoding use the hard values to determine the value of thecorrupted bit. The sum-product decoding method uses soft values. Softvalues comprise the sign of the bit values and the magnitude of the bitvalues, while hard values only look at the sign of the bit value. Theseiteratively decoding algorithms like the sum-product algorithm arecalled by different names: the belief propagation algorithm, and themessage passing algorithm.

A description of several decoders including the LDPC is provided. Datathat has been transmitted satisfies an LDPC code uses a parity-checkrepresentation of a binary linear (n, k) block code C where C is the setof all binary n-tuples that satisfy the following (n-k) parity checkequation,bH ^(T)=0  (EQ. 6)where H is a sparse (n-k) (n) parity check matrix. There are (n)observed bits b, (k) linearly independent generators or constraints inC. The densities of ones in the matrix should be sparse so that theiterative sum-product can be performed quickly to decode theinformation.

A Tanner graph of a parity check representation for an (8, 4, 4) code ispresented in FIG. 2A. This Tanner graph shows a graphical representationof an elementary linear behavior realization of a linear (n, k) blockcode over F_(q) of a system and is defined by its trajectories of localconstraints. There are (n) variable nodes, (n-k) constraint (zero-sum)nodes which are linearly independent generators in C. The number ofedges in the Tanner graph is equal to the number of ones in theparity-check matrix H. These trajectories are the codewords whichsatisfy those particular constraints. In this graphical representationyou could have an observed symbol (n) within the code word. A hiddensymbol (u) which represents the state. And you could have theconstraints which are the linear homogeneous equations on the subset ofthe variables.

First the elementary realizations of linear (n, k) block codes over afinite field F_(q) are illustrated. The code C is the set of all linearcombinations Σ_(i)u_(i)g_(i) over the finite field where the set ofgenerators g_(j) where j is less than or equal to k.

For the (8, 4, 4) code, G is the generator matrix and is shown in EQ. 7,where the n is the number of bits in the codeword, m is the number ofparity-check equations, and k is the number of information bits. Thecode for G is:

$\begin{matrix}\overset{{\mspace{70mu}\;}{b_{0}b_{1}b_{2}b_{3}b_{4}b_{5}b_{6}b_{7}}}{G = \begin{bmatrix}1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1\end{bmatrix}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 7} \right)\end{matrix}$

the columns are labeled b₀ . . . b₇ along the top, while the rows wouldbe labeled (not shown) as c₁, c₂, c₃, and c₄ from top to bottom. FIG. 2Aillustrates the parity-check realization of the generator matrix EQ. 7.The (n) variable nodes are shown on the left range from b₀ to b₇ and the(n-k) constraints range from c_(i) to c₄. Each of the blocks with the(+) calculates the exclusive or of the inputs such that they shouldequal to zero if the codeword is unaltered.

The set of bits in the j-th parity check equation of the code isdetermined using the generator matrix G and setting the constraintequations in columns b₀ . . . b₇ equal to the summation of thosepositions where the matrix has a one for the state variables; c₁, c₂,c₃, and c as:b ₀ =c ₁;b ₁ =c ₁ +c ₂;b ₂ =c ₁ +c ₃;b ₃ =c ₁ +c ₂ +c ₃;b ₄ =c ₂ +c ₃ +c ₄;b ₅ =c ₃ +c ₄;b ₆ =c ₂ +c ₄;b ₇ =c ₄;  (EQ. 8)The Tanner graph of the 4^(th) bit relation of EQ. 8 is depicted in FIG.2A.

The parity-check equations are determined from EQ. 7 and provides the 4constraint linear homogeneous equations that summing each row as afunction of the 8 constraint variables x₀ . . . x₇ to zero:x ₀ +x ₁ +x ₂ +x ₃=0;x ₁ +x ₃ +x ₄ +x ₆=0;x ₂ +x ₃ +x ₄ +x ₅=0;x ₄ +x ₅ +x ₆ +x ₇=0;  (EQ. 9)

At the start of the first cycle, the sum product decoding of LDPCbroadcast the bit nodes b_(i) to the check-nodes c_(i). For example, theb₀ equals the intrinsic value y₀ received from the channel, the b₁equals the intrinsic value y₁ received from the channel, the b₂ equalsthe intrinsic value y₂ received from the channel, and the b₃ equals theintrinsic value y₃ received from the channel as illustrated in FIG. 2B.Each of the values b_(i) received at parity-check nodes c_(i) are usedin the parity-check equations to further the calculations. The arrow2-10 indicates that the movement of data is from the bit-nodes 2-2 tothe constraint-nodes 2-3.

For instance in FIG. 2C, the input values: b₀, b₁, and b₂ are sent toparity-check node c₁ and are used to calculate the value of c′₁. Oncecalculated, the parity-check c₁ 2-5 sends the result to the bit node b₃2-4. After bit node b₃ receives the value of c′₁ calculated by theparity-check c₁. The bit-node b₃ stores the message of c′₁ as E_(1,3) atbit-node b₃. The arrow 2-11 indicates that the movement of data is fromthe constraint-node 2-5 to the bit-node 2-4.

In FIG. 2D, the input values: b₁, b₄, and b₆ are sent to parity-checknode c₂ and are used to calculate the value of c′₂. Once calculated, theparity-check c₂ 2-6 sends the result to the bit node b₃ 2-4. After bitnode b₃ receives the value of c′₂ calculated by the parity-check c₂. Thebit-node b₃ stores the message of c′₂ as E_(2,3) at bit-node b₃. Thearrow 2-11 indicates that the movement of data is from theconstraint-node 2-6 to the bit-node 2-4.

In FIG. 2E, the input values: b₂, b₄, and b₅ are sent to parity-checknode c₃ and are used to calculate the value of c′₃. Once calculated, theparity-check c₃ 2-7 sends the result to the bit node b₃ 2-4. After bitnode b₃ receives the value of c′₃ calculated by the parity-check c₃. Thebit-node b₃ stores the message of c′₃ as E_(3,3) at bit-node b₃. Thearrow 2-11 indicates that the movement of data is from theconstraint-node 2-7 to the bit-node 2-4.

A majority-rule is presented in FIG. 2F. Node b₃ performs a modulo 2addition on the values of E_(1,3), E_(2,3) and E_(3,3). In a first case,the result generates a “1” then the extrinsic value of y₃ must be a “1”to maintain that overall parity-check of all inputs: E_(1,3), E_(2,3)and E_(3,3,) and y₃ must generate a “0” to insure that the parity-checkcondition is maintained. In a second case, if the modulo 2 addition onthe values of E_(1,3), E_(2,3) and E_(3,3) results in a “0”, then theextrinsic value of y₃ must be a “0” to maintain that overallparity-check of all inputs: E_(1,3), E_(2,3) and E_(3,3), and y₃ mustgenerate a “0” to insure that the parity-check condition is maintained.In both cases, if the parity-check condition is maintained, then theextrinsic value is correct. If the parity-check condition is maintainedfor all bit-node b₀-b_(n), then EQ. 1 is satisfied and the iterativecycle can stop. Otherwise, in the next cycle all the values of theprevious cycle regarding the calculation of the modulo 2 addition of allvalues of E_(j,i), at a particular bit-node b_(i) is substituted fory_(i) and the next cycle begins.

The extrinsic message c′_(j) from the parity-check node j to bit-node iis the probability that bit i causes the parity-check at parity-nodeconstraint j to be satisfied when bit i=1. This probability is given as:

$\begin{matrix}{P_{j,i}^{1} = {\frac{1}{2} - {\frac{1}{2}{{\prod\limits^{\;}}_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\left( {1 - {2P_{c^{\prime}}^{1}}} \right)}}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 10} \right)\end{matrix}$where P_(c′) ¹ is the current estimate for the bit=1 during the currentcycle. The product is taken over the message edges between the bit-nodeand all connected check-nodes c_(i). The probability that theparity-check equation is satisfied when bit i=0. This probability isgiven as:

$\begin{matrix}{P_{j,i}^{0} = {{1 - P_{j,i}^{1}} = {\frac{1}{2} + {\frac{1}{2}{{\prod\limits^{\;}}_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\left( {1 - {2P_{c^{\prime}}^{1}}} \right)}}}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 11} \right)\end{matrix}$

The log likelihood ratios (LLR) E_(j,i) is the LLR of EQ. 11 or:

$\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {{{LLR}\left( P_{j,i}^{1} \right)} = {\log\left( \frac{1 - P_{j,i}^{1}}{P_{j,i}^{1}} \right)}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 12} \right)\end{matrix}$where the log is log_(e) and using EQ. 10 gives:

$\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {\log\left( \frac{\frac{1}{2} + {\frac{1}{2}{\prod_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\left( {1 - {2P_{c^{\prime}}^{1}}} \right)}}}{\frac{1}{2} - {\frac{1}{2}{\prod_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\left( {1 - {2P_{c^{\prime}}^{1}}} \right)}}} \right)}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 13} \right)\end{matrix}$

With the aid of EQ. 12,

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{1 - P_{j,i}^{1}}{P_{j,i}^{1}} = e^{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 14} \right)\end{matrix}$solving for P_(j,i) ¹ gives:

$\begin{matrix}{P_{j,i}^{1},{= {\frac{1}{1 + e^{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}} = \left( \frac{\Pr\left\lbrack {c^{\prime} = {0❘y}} \right\rbrack}{\Pr\left\lbrack {c^{\prime} = {1❘y}} \right\rbrack} \right)}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 15} \right)\end{matrix}$where Pr[c′=0|y] is the probability of event [c′=0] given the event yand Pr[c′=1|y] is the probability of event [c′=1] given the event y.Determining (1−2P_(c′) ¹) gives:

$\begin{matrix}{\left( {1 - {2P_{c^{\prime}}^{1}}} \right) = {{1 - \frac{2}{1 + e^{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}}} = {\frac{e^{M_{j,i^{\prime}}} - 1}{e^{M_{j,i^{\prime}}} + 1} = {\tanh\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 16} \right)\end{matrix}$

Substituting EQ. 16 into EQ. 13 gives:

$\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {\log\left( \frac{\frac{1}{2} + {\frac{1}{2}\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}{\tanh\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}}}{\frac{1}{2} - {\frac{1}{2}\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}{\tanh\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}}} \right)}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 17} \right)\end{matrix}$

The following is a fundamental logarithmic identity:

$\begin{matrix}{{2{\tanh^{- 1}\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}} = {\log\left( \frac{1 + \left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}{1 - \left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)} \right)}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 18} \right)\end{matrix}$EQ. 18 can be used in EQ. 17 to provide:

$\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {2{\tanh^{- 1}\left( {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}{\tanh\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}} \right)}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 19} \right)\end{matrix}$E_(j,i) is the extrinsic LLR message from each check-node c_(j) to aparticular bit-node b_(i) which also receives an a priori LLR from thei^(th) bit position of the input codeword y_(i). The total LLR of theprobability include all the check-nodes satisfying one of theparity-check equations and the i^(th) bit position of the input codewordy_(i):L _(i)=LLR(P _(i) ¹)=r _(i)+Σ_(j∈A) _(i) E _(j,i)  (EQ. 20)where r_(i) is the LLR of the a priori of the i^(th) bit position of theinput codeword y_(i):

$\begin{matrix}{r_{i} = \left( \frac{\Pr\left\lbrack {c_{i} = {0❘y}} \right\rbrack}{\Pr\left\lbrack {c_{i} = {1❘y}} \right\rbrack} \right)} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 21} \right)\end{matrix}$

The message M_(i,j) sent from a bit-node b_(i) to check-nodes c′indicates the LLR excluding the check-node c_(i) and is given as:M _(i,j) =−r _(i)+Σ_(j≠j′) E _(j′,i)  (EQ. 22)

For a additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, the a priori LLR isgiven by

$\begin{matrix}{r_{i} = {{4y_{i}\frac{E_{s}}{N_{o}}} = \frac{2y_{i}}{\sigma^{2}}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 23} \right)\end{matrix}$

Log likelihood ratios (LLR) are used in the sum-product algorithm. Let Rhave the elements (0,1) in the GF (2) field. The LLR of a binary randomvariable R, L(r), is then defined as:

$\begin{matrix}{{L\left( r_{i} \right)} = {\log\left( \frac{\Pr\left\lbrack {r_{i} = {0❘y}} \right\rbrack}{\Pr\left\lbrack {r_{i} = {1❘y}} \right\rbrack} \right)}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 24} \right)\end{matrix}$L(r_(i)) then indicates the probability that the random variable R takeson the value r_(i). The magnitude of the log-likelihood ratio L(r_(i))determines the so called “soft” value (α_(j,i′)) of the random variableR while the hard decision is determined by the sign(β_(j,i′)=|M_(j,i′)|) of the magnitude |L(r_(i))| and is the reliabilityof this decision.Substituting

${\tanh\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)} = {\left( \alpha_{j,i^{\prime}} \right){\tanh\left( \frac{\left( \beta_{j,i^{\prime}} \right)}{2} \right)}}$

$\begin{matrix}{{\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}{\tanh\left( \frac{M_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}} = {\left\lbrack {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\alpha_{j,i^{\prime}}} \right\rbrack\left\lbrack {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}{\tanh\left( \frac{\beta_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}} \right\rbrack}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 25} \right)\end{matrix}$Placing EQ. 25 into EQ. 19 gives:

$\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {\left\lbrack {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\alpha_{j,i^{\prime}}} \right\rbrack 2\tanh^{- 1}\log^{- 1}{\log\left\lbrack {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}{\tanh\left( \frac{\beta_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}} \right\rbrack}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 26} \right)\end{matrix}$distributing the log⁻¹ log term provides:

$\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {\left\lbrack {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\alpha_{j,i^{\prime}}} \right\rbrack 2\tanh^{- 1}{\log^{- 1}\left\lbrack {\Pi_{c_{i}^{\prime} \neq c_{j}}\log\mspace{14mu}{\tanh\left( \frac{\beta_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2} \right)}} \right\rbrack}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 27} \right)\end{matrix}$The sum-product algorithm of the LDPC can be further simplified bypartitioning the LLR ratio into a magnitude component and a signcomponent. Furthermore, a product term can be replaced with an additiveterm by utilizing logarithms.

$\begin{matrix}{{\psi\left( \beta_{j,i^{\prime}} \right)} = {\log\left( {\tanh{\frac{\beta_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2}}} \right)}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 28} \right)\end{matrix}$and solving for β_(j,i′) in EQ. 28 provides:β_(j,i′)=2 tan h ⁻¹ log⁻¹ [ψ(β_(j,i′))]  (EQ. 29)substituting EQ. 28 and EQ. 29 into EQ. 27 leaves:E _(j,i)=[Π_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j) α_(j,i′)]2 tan h ⁻¹ log⁻¹ [Σ_(c) _(i)_(′≠c) _(j) ψ(β_(j,i′)])  (EQ. 28)and

$\begin{matrix}{{\tanh{\frac{\beta_{j,i^{\prime}}}{2}}} = {\log^{- 1}{\psi\left( \beta_{j,i^{\prime}} \right)}}} & \;\end{matrix}$where solving for β_(j,i′) gives:E _(j,i)=−[Π_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j) α_(j,i′)]ψ[Σ_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j)ψ(β_(j,i′)])  (EQ. 29)

The final equations that are used are arrived at by settingR_(j,i)=E_(j,i); β_(j,i′)=L(q_(j,i′)); α_(j,i′)=sign L(q_(j,i′)); in EQ.29:S _(j,i)=[Π_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j) α_(j,i′)]=Π_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j)[signL(q _(j,i′))]  (EQ. 30)andA _(j,i)[Σ_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j) ψ(β_(j,i′))]=Σ_(c) _(i) _(′≠c) _(j)ψ(L(q _(j,i))  (EQ. 31)R _(j,i) =−S _(j,i) ψ[A _(j,i)]  (EQ. 32)setting Σ_(j∈A) _(i) E_(j,i)=L(q_(j,i)); r_(i)=R_(j,i);L_(i)=L(q_(j))=M_(i,j); EQ. 20 becomes:L(q _(j,i))=L(q _(j))−R _(j,i)  (EQ. 33)Using EQ. 22, and EQ. 23, the message M_(i,j) sent from a bit-node b_(i)to check-nodes c′ indicates the LLR excluding the check-node c_(j) andis given as:

$\begin{matrix}{{L\left( q_{j} \right)} = {\frac{2y_{i}}{\sigma^{2}} + {\Sigma_{j \neq j^{\prime}}R_{j,i}}}} & \left( {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 34} \right)\end{matrix}$

The received bits represent probabilities at each bit node or inputnode. These bit-nodes are combined with the constraints-nodes in aTanner graph to perform the belief propagation procedure. In the firstiteration, these probabilities are passed from the bit-nodes to theconstraint-nodes and are updated according to the parity checkconstraints. These values become updated and the new probabilities aresend back to the symbol nodes which also performs the parity checkconstraint. At the bit-nodes, the values are again updated and if EQ. 4is satisfied, then the process stops; otherwise, the recalculatedprobabilities at each bit-node or input nodes are passed from thesebit-nodes to the constraint-nodes again in additional iterative mannerand are updated according to the parity check constraints. These newervalues become updated and the newer probabilities are send back to thesymbol nodes which also performs the parity check constraint again.Then, at the bit-nodes, the values are again updated and if EQ. 4 issatisfied, the process is stopped and the correct codewords have beendetermined. The source message can then be extracted from the codeword.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B illustrate a generator realization and parity-checkrealization for the (8, 4, 4) code. FIG. 3A illustrates the b₁ to b₇ bitvalues 2-2 broadcast their value to the parity-check 2-3 so that theseblocks can compute the sum-product constraint. Once the sum-productconstraint has been computed, the network then causes the newlycalculated c₁ to c₄ parity bit values 2-5 to send their value to the (n)symbols 2-4. The majority rule calculates the bit values in a secondcycle. The flip from a generator realization to a parity-checkrealization is understood by comparing FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. Now the (n)symbols are broadcast back to the (n-k) constraints once the (n-k)constraints have calculated their value, the network flips back to agenerator realization and continually does an iterative loop until thenumber of loops is exceeded beyond a set value or the values of the (n)symbols x₀ through x₇ have arrived at their final value.

FIG. 4A illustrates the (n) symbols being in the broadcast mode arecoupled to an interleaver block also known as a π network. Theinterleaver block then couples to the (n-k) constraints being in thezero-sum mode. The number of ports arriving from the (n) symbols to theinterleaver is P_(L) while the number of ports between the interleaverand the (n-k) constraints is P_(R). The interleaver requires that P_(L)equals P_(R) to operate properly.

FIG. 4B illustrates a trellis block diagram for another decoding systemcalled the Belief Propagation decoder and algorithm. This figureillustrates the flow of messages and computations using a sum-productalgorithm to calculate the values. The values x₀ to x_(n) generate theinput messages i₀-i_(n) which are the intrinsic a posterioriprobabilities (APP) vectors derived from the observation. The outputmessages e_(o)-e_(n) are the extrinsic APP vectors and are provided atx₀ to x_(n). The blocks C_(o)-C_(n) 4-2 capture the intrinsic data andproceeds to independently calculate the forward (α₁ to α_(n)) andbackwards (β_(n) to β₁) directions simultaneously. In the forwarddirection, the messages flows from C₀ to C_(n) while in the backwardsdirection the messages flows from C_(n) to C₀. Once the forward messagereaches C_(n) and the backward message reaches C₀, the BCJR algorithm iscomplete and the extrinsic data is output to x₀-x_(n). This algorithmuses a sum-product rule within each of the blocks C_(o)-C_(n) 4-2.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments and aspects of the inventions will be described withreference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings willillustrate the various embodiments. The following description anddrawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construedas limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the presentinvention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to provide a concise discussion ofembodiments of the present inventions.

Another inventive embodiment of one of the inventions is to provide anLDPC decoder that can sustain performance levels for a 60 GHz system anddissipates low power in an integrated circuit, for example, in a chipfabricated using the CMOS technology. The embodiment of non-blockcheck-node-update (CNU) scheduling uses a plurality of processorsconfigured in a pipeline. The pipeline calculates the LLR and correctscorrupted symbols of a 60 GHz communication system. The pipeline usesthe results that the pipeline had calculated two or more layers earlier.This inventive feature allows the LLR system to perform more iterationsin a given time period thereby improving the BER of the LLR system.

Another embodiment of one of the present inventions is an apparatus forcommunication systems comprising: a first processor of a plurality ofprocessors; a last processor of the plurality of processors; remainingprocessors of the plurality of processors coupled in series between thefirst processor and the last processor; an output of the last processorcoupled to an input of a de-multiplexor; a plurality of memories eachcoupled to a corresponding output of the de-multiplexor; each input of afirst multiplexor coupled to an output of a corresponding memory of theplurality of memories; and an output of the first multiplexor coupled toa first input of the first processor, further comprising: a plurality ofregisters each storing a different portion of a plurality of datasymbols; each input of a second multiplexor coupled to an output of eachcorresponding the plurality of registers; and an output of the secondmultiplexor coupled to a second input of the first processor, whereinthe plurality of registers configured to behave as shift registers whenstoring incoming symbols, wherein an iteration requires a number ofclock cycles equal to a product of a count of the plurality ofprocessors and a count of the plurality of registers, wherein a fractionof the data symbols are randomly corrupted symbols, wherein alog-likelihood ratio (LLR) is generated at the output of the lastprocessor, wherein the LLRs correct the randomly corrupted symbols. Theapparatus wherein one of the plurality of memories is configured to beenabled or wherein each of the plurality of processors perform adifferent function.

Another embodiment of one of the present inventions is a method ofimproving characteristics of a communication system comprising the stepsof: coupling a plurality of processors in a pipeline structure; couplingan output of a last processor in the pipeline structure to an input of amemory; coupling an output of the memory to an input of a firstprocessor in the pipeline structure; applying a stored result read frommemory to a first processor in the pipeline; calculating a calculatedresult of the stored result at the output of the last processor; andstoring the calculated result into the memory, wherein the stored resultwas calculated by the pipeline two or more calculated results earlier,further comprising the steps of: distributing equal portions of aplurality of data symbols among a corresponding plurality of registers;coupling each input of a multiplexor to an output of each one of thecorresponding plurality of registers; and coupling an output of themultiplexor to a second input of the first processor in the pipelinestructure, wherein an iteration requires a number of clock cycles equalto a product of a count of the plurality of processors and a count ofthe plurality of registers, wherein a fraction of the data symbols arerandomly corrupted symbols, wherein a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) isgenerated at the output of the last processor, wherein the LLRs correctthe randomly corrupted symbols. The method wherein one of the pluralityof memories is configured to be enabled, wherein the plurality ofregisters configured to behave as shift registers when storing incomingsymbols, wherein each of the plurality of processors perform a differentfunction.

Another embodiment of one of the present inventions is an apparatus forcommunication systems comprising: a plurality of processors coupled in apipeline structure; an output of a last processor in the pipelinestructure coupled to an input of a de-multiplexor; a plurality ofmemories each coupled to a corresponding output of the de-multiplexor;each input of a first multiplexor coupled to an output of acorresponding memory of the plurality of memories; an output of thefirst multiplexor coupled to a first input of a first processor in thepipeline structure; a plurality of registers each storing a differentportion of a plurality of data symbols; each input of a secondmultiplexor coupled to an output of each corresponding the plurality ofregisters; and an output of the second multiplexor coupled to a secondinput of the first processor, wherein each of the plurality ofprocessors perform a different function, and a log-likelihood ratio(LLR) is generated at the output of the last processor.

The inventive embodiment of the LDPC supports 4 modes: Rate 1/2, Rate5/8, Rate 3/4, Rate 13/16. The architecture is able to switch tonon-blocking CNU scheduling architecture which has better performancethan the blocking CNU scheduling architecture. The architecture uses anOffset Min-Sum with Beta equals 1 with a clock domain operating at 440MHz. Four core processor are used in the architecture where theconstraint matrix uses an sub-array of 42 (check nodes)×42 (variablenodes) in the macro-array of 168×672 bits. The constraint macro-matrixis a spare matrix where each “1’ corresponds to a sub-array of acyclically shifted identity matrix which is a shifted version of anidentity matrix. Pipeline processing is used where the delay for eachlayer is 4 clock cycles. A 5-bit input channel LLR is used wheresymmetrical saturation is used for all input, internal nodes and output.To minimize storage, only the min1, min2, min1_index, prod_sign and signare stored for each layer. For Rate 1/2, there are 8 layers which arecompressed into 4 effective layers. For Rate 5/8, there are 6 layerswhich are compressed into 4 effective layers. The total gate count is270 k gates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Please note that the drawings shown in this specification may notnecessarily be drawn to scale and the relative dimensions of variouselements in the diagrams are depicted schematically. The inventionspresented here may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be through andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. In other instances, well-known structures andfunctions have not been shown or described in detail to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiment of theinvention. Like numbers refer to like elements in the diagrams.

FIG. 1 depicts the transmitter and receiver blocks diagrams for a SCsystem.

FIG. 2A shows a Tanner parity-check realization of a (8, 4, 4) code.

FIG. 2B illustrates each bit node broadcasting the input value to theconstraint node network.

FIG. 2C-E depicts a constraint node performing a sum-product and sendingthe result to a bit-node.

FIG. 2F shows a Tanner parity-check realization of a (8, 4, 4) code.

FIG. 2G illustrates each bit node broadcasting the input value to theconstraint node network during the second cycle.

FIG. 3A shows a Tanner generator realization of a (8, 4, 4) code.

FIG. 3B depicts a Tanner parity-check realization of a (8, 4, 4) code.

FIG. 4A illustrates a error correction system using an interleavercoupling the symbols to the constraints.

FIG. 4B presents a block diagram Belief Propagation network for errorcorrection.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the receiver path containing a LDPCdecoder in accordance with an embodiment of one of the presentinventions.

FIG. 6A depicts a table describing rate 1/2 LDPC code H matrix.

FIG. 6B illustrates a table describing a collapsed rate 1/2 LDPC code Hmatrix in accordance with an embodiment of one of the presentinventions.

FIG. 6C presents several examples of cyclic-permutation submatrixes.

FIG. 7A depicts a blocking check-node-update scheduling in accordancewith an embodiment of one of the present inventions.

FIG. 7B depicts a non-blocking check-node-update scheduling inaccordance with an embodiment of one of the present inventions.

FIG. 8A illustrates a more detailed blocking check-node-updatescheduling shown over several clock cycles in accordance with anembodiment of one of the present inventions.

FIG. 8B depicts a more detailed non-blocking check-node-updatescheduling shown over several clock cycles in accordance with anembodiment of one of the present inventions.

FIG. 9 presents a non-blocking check-node-update scheduling blockdiagram in accordance with an embodiment of one of the presentinventions.

FIG. 10A depicts a table describing a layered architecture with threecycle clock delay per layer in accordance with an embodiment of one ofthe present inventions.

FIG. 10B illustrates a table describing an architecture with anon-blocking CNU scheduling in accordance with an embodiment of one ofthe present inventions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 5 depicts the decode path of the SC-LDPC path. The bit stream isde-Mapped by the QAM demapper 1-18 and translates the constellationpoints into binary values which are applied to the LDPC decoder 1-22.The recovered bit-nodes are applied to a de-scrambler 1-23 and forwardedto the baseband processor 5-3 and the SC header decoder 5-1 and theheader error detector 5-2. Symbols transmitted at a source and receivedby a receiver at a destination usually arrive with errors (corrupted).The signal is randomly altered by the thermal noise and radiatedelectromagnetic noise from other sources picked up by the receiver.Redundancy is included in the symbols to allow the LDPC to correct anycorrupted symbols.

The IEEE 802.11ad specification specifies four Low-Density Parity-Check(LDPC) codes, each of a different rate but with a common codeword sizeof 672 bits. Each of the parity-check matrices H, such as that describedin EQ. 2, is partitioned into square submatrices of size Z×Z. whereZ=64. FIG. 6A presents a rate 1/2 LDPC code matrix H 6-1. H has 336 rowsX 672 columns. Other codes include: Rate-3/4 LDPC code matrix H=168 rowsx 672 columns, Z=42; Rate-13/16 LDPC code matrix H=126 rows x 672columns, Z=42; and Rate-5/8 LDPC code matrix H=252 rows x 672 columns,Z=42.

The submatrices are either cyclic-permutations of the identity matrix,or null submatrices with all zero entries. A location with integer idenotes the cyclic-permutation submatrix Pi obtained from the Z×Zidentity matrix by cyclically shifting the columns to the right by ielements. The matrix P₀ is the Z×Z identity matrix. An empty locationdenotes a null submatrix of size Z×Z. Examples of P₀, P₁, and P₃ withZ=4 are provided in FIG. 6C. Matrix 6-4 is the unity matrix where i=0;matrix 6-5 where i=1 shifts the “1” bit right by one unit from the unitymatrix. Matrix 6-6 where i=3 shifts the “1” bit right by three positionsfrom the unity matrix.

The matrix in FIG. 6A presents a rate 1/2 LDPC code matrix H 6-1. H has336 rows×672 columns and can be reduced by combining layer 0 and layer2, layer 1 and layer 3, layer 4 and layer 6, and layer 5 and layer 7 toarrive at the H matrix 6-7 presented in FIG. 6B. The previous 8 layersof the matrix 6-1 has been reduced to only four layers (0-3) in thematrix 6-7 shown in FIG. 6B.

Hardware to calculate the check node update for the determination of LLRis required to perform these operations for each of the four layers.Each layer must operate on 16 64×64 matrixes. A hardware unit comprising16 separate units can be used, but the transistor gate count would bemassive, the clocking network to synchronize the circuit would be powerdissipative, and a large portion of the semiconductor chip area would beused. A hardware unit comprising single unit can be used, but then thecalculations would need to be run repetitively 16 times. The area usagewould be reduced but the time to perform all 16 repetitions would taketoo long. A compromise of using a hardware unit of 4 separate units wasdetermined which allows moderate area usage, low power dissipation, andadequate performance. Thus, the 16 columns of matrices are partitionedinto 4 groups: group 1; group 2; group 3; and group 4, as illustrated inthe reduced H matrix 6-7 shown in FIG. 6B.

The check node update determines the LLR, see EQ. 34. Several steps arenecessary to perform the calculation of the LLR on a layer by layerbasis. The output results of the current layer are applied to the nextsequential layer in series to improve the corrupted symbols that weretransmitted in over noisy channel. The design uses four layers.

As illustrated in the matrix 6-7 in FIG. 6B, after 4 layers, (layers0-3), the LDPC has performed one iteration 6-2 and will start the nextiteration 6-3. If the result of EQ. 1 is satisfied then the iterativecycle can stop; otherwise, another iteration is performed. If theiteration had stopped then the calculations were performed on each ofthe four layers in the H matrix just once. The calculations arecomputational intensive and the 802.11ad specification has specifiedtiming criteria to perform the LLR calculation. The iteration ispartitioned into four groups and each group is partitioned into fourequal time components of 2.27 nsec as clocked by flip-flops at eachboundary.

A processor is used in each of these four equal time slots where theoutput of a first processor is serially coupled to the input of thesecond processor, the output of a second processor is serially coupledto the input of the third processor, and the output of a third processoris serially coupled to the input of the fourth processor forming apipeline structure. Each of these processors has a critical path whichis defined as the longest delay of that particular processor. Allprocessors must meet the worst case delay of the longest logic gatesequence of the state machine in that particular processor, that is, forthis system to communicate at 60 GHz using the IEEE 802.11ad protocol,the allowed worst case propagation time delay of each of the processorsis 2.27 nsec. The pipeline is the hardware of the system which ispartitioned into four processors each having a different function. Thefour processor functions of the state machine are: 1) a first processorto control where memory is read to extract a previous calculated resultsand the value of the received input; 2) a second processor to subtract,saturate 2's complement to magnitude, and subtract data terms (OffsetMin-sum max(0, x-beta); 3) a third processor to calculate the min (findmin1, min2, min1_index for each layer); and 4) a fourth processor toassemble the min together (collecting and converting magnitude to 2'scompliment. For a communication system to be operable to 60 GHz, theclock rate needs to be 440 MHz.

There one pipeline to generate the LLR of all four groups. This pipelinemust be shared with the three other groups in order to perform thecalculation. And as mentioned earlier the pipeline is partitioned intofour processor functions segregated by clocked flip-flops which form thepipeline. When group 1 of layer −1 is being manipulated by the firstprocessor function, a clock cycle of 2.27 ns passes before the resultsare latched. At that point, the first processor function becomes free tooperate on group 2. Meanwhile the result in the first flip-flop of group1 is applied to the second of four processor functions to perform thenext calculation then 2.27 ns later the results are latched in a secondset of flip-flops. Simultaneously, group 2 is being manipulated by thefirst of four processor functions. A clock cycle of 2.27 ns passesbefore both of these results are latched. Then, the third group ismanipulated by the first processor function, a clock cycle of 2.27 nspasses before the results are latched. Simultaneously, group 1 is in thethird processor function, group 2 is in the second processor function.Then, the last (fourth) group is manipulated by the first processorfunction, a clock cycle of 2.27 ns passes before the results arelatched. Simultaneously, group 1 is in the fourth processor function,group 2 is in the third processor function, and group 3 is in the secondprocessor function. This allows maximum sharing of the hardware/softwareto perform the calculation of the LLR. Note the wait period delay 7-5 ofthree clock cycles in FIG. 7A. This is required to allow the fourthgroup to complete the last of four calculations.

FIG. 7A illustrates how the log likelihood ratios from a first layer arepropagated to the next layer. This is called the blockingcheck-node-update (CNU) scheduling. The LLR from layer −1 is applied tolayer 0 as indicated by 7-3. Then the pipeline sequence provided in theprevious paragraph now occurs within layer 0. Each layer takes 7 clockcycles. An iteration comprises the completion of four layers before thenext iteration can start. From FIG. 7A, the iteration requires 28 clockticks before the next iteration can occur.

An innovative and inventive embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 7B. Thisis called the non-blocking CNU scheduling. The calculation of the LLR isfound to be additive in nature. Thus, it is not required to wait untilthe previous group LLR results are calculated. Instead, the results 7-4from layer −1 which is two layers earlier can be used in layer 1 toovercome the wait period delay 7-5 as illustrated in FIG. 7A. Thisallows group 1 of layer 1 to use the first of four processor functionsas soon as group 4 of layer 0 is finished using the first of fourprocessor functions. This innovative feature completes the iteration in16 clock ticks and allows the next iteration to occur immediately.

FIG. 8A illustrates the Blocking CNU in detail. In in group 1 of layer 0the first of four processor functions 8-3 is the read data from memorywhich occurs going clock cycle 1. Then, at the start of clock cycle 2,group 2 reads the memory and the second of four processor functions 8-4performs the subtract-saturate-subtract function for group 1. Duringclock cycle 3, group 3 reads the data, while group 2 uses thesubtract-saturate-subtract function and group 1 utilizes the third ofthe four processor functions to calculate men 8-5. During clock cycle 4,group 4 reads the data, group 3 uses the subtract-saturate-subtractfunction, group 2 utilizes the second of the four processor functions tothe calculate men and group 1 assembles the values from min. Then, inclock cycle 5, group 1 is placed in a wait state which the remainingthree groups perform the functions of the last three processorfunctions. This sequence continues until group 4 is assembling from men8-9 while simultaneously groups 1-3 are in a wait state. Once group 4has completed assembling from men 8-9, the calculation for layer 0 iscomplete 8-7. Now the results 8-8 from layer 0 can be applied to thefour groups in layer 1 where the first of four processor functions, theread data 8-10, operates on group 1 of layer 1. Note that all fourprocessor functions (8-3, 8-4, 8-5, and 8-6) for group 1 in layer 0takes four clock cycles 8-1. However an additional three cycles 8-2 isrequired for group 0 to complete the last three processor functions.Layer 0 is completed between clock cycle 7 and clock cycle 8 8-7. Inclock cycle 8, the process of calculating the LLR for layer 1 commenceswhere the results 8-8 from the previous layer (layer 0) are used inlayer 1.

FIG. 8B illustrates the Non-blocking CNU in detail. At the start 8-11 oflayer 0, group 1 of layer 0 performs the first of four processorfunctions 8-3 which is the read data from memory that occurs duringclock cycle 1. Then, at the start of clock cycle 2, group 2 reads thememory and the second of four processor functions 8-4 performs thesubtract-saturate-subtract function for group 1. During clock cycle 3,group 3 reads the data, while group 2 uses thesubtract-saturate-subtract function and group 1 utilizes the third ofthe four processor functions to calculate men 8-5. During clock cycle 4,group 4 reads the data, group 3 uses the subtract-saturate-subtractfunction, group 2 utilizes the second of the four processor functions tothe calculate men and group 1 assembles the values from min. Then, inclock cycle 5, the LLR results 8-15 of layer −1 are applied, allowingthe pipeline to continue the previous sequence. Wait states are notrequired in the Non-blocking CNU. The start of layer 0 aligns with theline 8-11 while layer 0 terminates at line 8-12. All four processorfunctions of the pipeline are being used all the time.

The Non-blocking CNU only requires 16 clock cycles to perform oneiteration while the Blocking CNU requires 28 clock cycles to perform aniteration. If the time allotted to perform the LLR is fixed, theNon-blocking CNU can do more iterations than the Blocking CNU. Thus,this inventive embodiment of Non-blocking CNU can deliver a signal withfewer errors and is a more efficient system.

A block diagram of a Non-blocking check note update schedulingarchitecture is illustrated in FIG. 9. Incoming intrinsic symbols 9-1are fed into memory consisting of groups 1 through 4 (9-2, 9-3, 9-4, and9-5). This memory can also be formed registers or shift-registers. Oncethis memory is filled with the intrinsic symbols, the intrinsic symbolscan be repetitively applied through the 4 to 1 multiplexor 9-6 toperform additional iterations. The multiplexor transfers one of the fourinputs to the output of the multiplexor based on a control applied tothe multiplexor. For instance, with proper control, the multiplexor canprovide the data of group 1 at the output of the multiplexor for a firstclock cycle, the data of group 2 at the output of the multiplexor forthe next clock cycle, the data of group 3 at the output of themultiplexor for the next clock cycle, the data of group 4 at the outputof the multiplexor for the next clock cycle, and the data of group 1 atthe output of the multiplexor for the next clock cycle, constantlycycling in a loop. An iteration is performed when the data cyclesthrough the data group 1-4 once.

The pipeline consists of the following processors that are seriescoupled: P1 9-7; P2 9-8; P3 9-9; and P4 9-10. The functions that theseprocessors P1-4 perform are identified in the insert 9-15. The output ofthis pipeline is available at 9-13 and is also applied to the 1-4de-multiplexor. For instance, with proper control, the de-multiplexorcan provide the output of the pipeline to the input of Memory1 for afirst clock cycle, the de-multiplexor can write the output of thepipeline to the input of Memory2 for a second clock cycle, thede-multiplexor can write the output of the pipeline to the input ofMemory3 for a next clock cycle, the de-multiplexor can write the outputof the pipeline to the input of Memory4 for a next clock cycle, thede-multiplexor can write the output of the pipeline to the input ofMemory1 for a next clock cycle, constantly cycling in a loop. Aniteration is performed when the all four memories are written once. Insummary, the de-multiplexor applies the output result of P4 9-10 to oneof four memories where memory1 9-19 stores the results of group 1calculations, memory2 9-20 stores the results of group 2 calculations,memory3 9-21 stores the results of group 3 calculations, and memory49-22 stores the results of group 4 calculations. The functions of theprocessors P1, P2, P3, and P4 in the pipeline are identified in inset9-15.

The 4-1 multiplexor 9-17 applies one of the earlier stored results ofall group 1 calculations stored in memory1 9-19 to P1 9-7, one of theearlier stored results of all group 2 calculations stored in memory29-20 to P1 9-7, one of the earlier stored results of all group 3calculations stored in memory3 9-21 to P1 9-7, and one of the earlierstored results of all group 4 calculations stored in memory4 9-24 to P19-7, in sequential order. The earlier stored results read from memorycan be the calculations performed in the pipeline from two or moreearlier layers.

The selector function of the two multiplexors 9-6, 9-17 and thede-multiplexor 9-18 have characteristics of a memory interaction. Forinstance, to write a data bit into a content of a particular memory cellin a memory array, a de-multiplexor operation occurs to present the databit to that particular memory cell. Furthermore, to read the contents ofa particular memory cell in a memory array, a multiplexor operationoccurs to present the data bit which was in that particular memory cellat the output of the memory. The read and write logical structures of amemory are similar to the multiplexor and de-multiplexor operations.Thus, all of the components of the multiplexor 9-17 and 9-6,de-multiplexor 9-18, memories 9-19 through 9-22, and the memories of thedata of group 1-4 located dotted boxes 9-11 a and 9-11 b can be includedinside one memory. This transfers the hardware of the system in FIG. 9into a simpler physical model at the expense of increasing the softwarecomplexity of the system.

FIG. 10A illustrates a table describing a layered Blocking CNU decoderhaving three wait states per layer. The BPSK constellations require 192cycles to perform the LLR while QPSK only requires 96 cycles. Thearchitecture is clock at a cycle rate of 440 MHz, uses an offset Min-Sumalgorithm, and uses four core pipeline processors where each “number” inthe macro-matrix of FIG. 6B corresponds to a 42×42 cyclically shiftedidentity matrix which is a shifted version of an identity matrix. Thearchitecture operates at a coding rate of 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, and 13/16 andrequires 27, 26, 28 and 21 cycle cycles to perform the decoding. Themaximum number of iterations to decode a BPSK constellation is 7, 7, 6,and 9 and a QPSK constellation is 3, 3, 3, and 4 when the architectureoperates at a coding rate of 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, and 13/16.

FIG. 10B illustrates a table describing a layered Non-blocking decoderhaving wait-less states of operation. The architecture is clock at acycle rate of 440 MHz, uses an offset Min-Sum algorithm, and uses fourcore pipeline processors where each “number” in the macro-matrix of FIG.6B corresponds to a 42×42 cyclically shifted identity matrix which is ashifted version of an identity matrix. The architecture operates at acoding rate of 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, and 13/16 and requires 16, 16, 16 and 12cycle cycles to perform the decoding. The maximum number of iterationsto decode a BPSK constellation is 11, 11, 11, and 15 and a QPSKconstellation is 5, 5, 5, and 7 when the architecture operates at acoding rate of 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, and 13/16.

Finally, it is understood that the above descriptions are onlyillustrative of the principle of the current invention. Variousalterations, improvements, and modifications will occur and are intendedto be suggested hereby, and are within the spirit and scope of theinvention. This invention may, however, be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that thedisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the invention to those skilled in the arts. It is understoodthat the various embodiments of the invention, although different, arenot mutually exclusive. In accordance with these principles, thoseskilled in the art may devise numerous modifications without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, this inventiveembodiment has the potential to improve overall performance whencalculating additive functions where the particular order of calculationdoes not affect the final result, for example, adders, multipliers, etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a plurality ofprocessors arranged in a pipeline structure and configured to operate ona plurality of layers of data, each layer comprising a plurality ofgroups of data symbols received from a noisy transmission medium; and amemory comprising an input coupled to an output of a last processor inthe pipeline structure, and an output coupled to an input of a firstprocessor in the pipeline structure, the memory comprising read andwrite logical structures configured to perform multiplexor andde-multiplexor operations, comprising: for each group in each layer,applying a stored data set read from the memory to the first processorin the pipeline structure; producing a calculation of a log-likelihoodratio (LLR) of the data symbols at the output of the last processor; andstoring the LLR in the memory; and operating at least one processor inthe pipeline structure to process a next layer before a current layer iscompleted, wherein a stored data set in the next layer comprises aportion of the LLR calculation produced from a layer previous to thecurrent layer thereby providing for non-blocking check-node-updatescheduling.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a pluralityof registers, each storing a different portion of a plurality of datasymbols; and a multiplexor, wherein each input of the multiplexor iscoupled to an output of each of the plurality of registers, and anoutput of the multiplexor is coupled to a second input of the firstprocessor.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality ofregisters is configured to behave as shift registers when storingincoming symbols.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein an iterationrequires a number of clock cycles equal to a product of a count of theplurality of processors and a count of the plurality of registers. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LLR is used to correct corruptedsymbols in the data.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of processors perform a different function.
 7. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the first processor is configured to read data froma memory, a second processor is configured to perform asubtract-saturate- subtract function, a third processor is configured tocalculate a min, and the last processor is configured to assemble valuesfrom the min.
 8. A method, comprising: arranging data symbols receivedfrom a noisy transmission medium into a layer comprising a plurality Nof groups of data symbols equal to N processors in a pipeline; for eachof N clock cycles, inputting a sequential one of the N groups of datasymbols into a first processor in the pipelines, and for each group ofdata symbols being processed in the pipeline, inputting a correspondingprocessor's output data symbols to a next processor in the pipeline; andfor an N+1 clock cycle, outputting a log-likelihood ratio (LLR)calculation of a first group of data symbols from a last processor inthe pipeline, outputting data from each of the N processors other thanthe last processor to the next processor in the pipeline, and inputtingan LLR calculation from a previously processed layer to the firstprocessor, thereby providing for non-blocking check-node-updatescheduling.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: distributinggroups of data among a corresponding plurality of registers; couplingeach input of a multiplexor to an output of each one of thecorresponding plurality of registers; and coupling an output of themultiplexor to a second input of the first processor.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein an iteration comprises a number of clock cycles equalto a product of a count of the plurality of processors and a count ofthe plurality of registers.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein each ofthe N processors is configured to perform a different function.
 12. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the first processor is configured to readdata from a memory, a second processor is configured to perform asubtract-saturate-subtract function, a third processor is configured tocalculate a min, and the last processor is configured to assemble valuesfrom the min.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the LLR correctscorrupted symbols in the data.
 14. At least one non-transitorycomputer-readable memory coupled to a pipeline comprising a plurality ofprocessors, the at least one memory including instructions storedtherein and executable by at least one of the plurality of processorsto: for each of a plurality of groups of data in each of a plurality oflayers, each of the plurality of groups comprising data symbols receivedfrom a noisy transmission medium, apply stored data read from the atleast one memory to a first processor in the pipeline; produce acalculation of a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of data symbols at theoutput of a last processor in the pipeline; store the LLR in the atleast one memory; and operate at least one processor in the pipeline toprocess a next layer before a current layer is completed, wherein astored data set used by the next layer comprises a portion of the LLRcalculation produced from a layer previous to the current layer, therebyproviding for non-blocking check-node-update scheduling.
 15. The atleast one memory of claim 14, comprising a plurality of registers, eachstoring a different portion of a plurality of data symbols, the at leastone memory further comprising instructions to: distribute the pluralityof groups of data among the plurality of registers; couple each input ofa multiplexor to an output of each one of the plurality of registers;and couple an output of the multiplexor to a second input of the firstprocessor.
 16. The at least one memory of claim 15, wherein an iterationcomprises a number of clock cycles equal to a product of a count of theplurality of processors and a count of the plurality of registers. 17.The at least one memory of claim 14, wherein the first processor isconfigured to read data from the at least one memory, a second processorin the pipeline is configured to perform a subtract-saturate-subtractfunction, a third processor in the pipeline is configured to calculate amin, and the last processor is configured to assemble values from themin.
 18. The at least one memory of claim 14, wherein the LLR is used tocorrect corrupted symbols in the data.
 19. The at least one memory ofclaim 14, wherein each processor in the pipeline is configured toperform a different function.